Fahd of Saudi Arabia

King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz (b. Riyadh 1923), is the king and prime minister of Saudi Arabia and leader of the House of Saud. Fahd suffered a major stroke in 1996 and since has been unable to perform his official duties as regent. His brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, serves as defacto regent of the kingdom.

Fahd is a son of Ibn Saud, the first monarch and founder of modern Saudi Arabia. At the time of his birth, Fahd's father was completing the consolidation of the House of Saud's power on the Arabian Peninsula and the founding of Saudi Arabia.

At the age of nine in 1932, Fahd watched as his father officially founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by signing the Treaty of Jedda.

Fahd's education took place at the Princes' School in Riyadh, a school established by Ibn Saud specifically for the education of members of the House of Saud. While studying at the Princes' School Fahd studdied under tutors including Ahmed Al Arabi and Sheikh Abdul-Ghani Khayat. Following his education at the Princes' School, Fahd moved on to the Religious Knowledge Institute in Meccah, where he studdied Wahhabi Islam.

In 1945 Fahd travelled on his first state visit to New York, New York to attend the opening session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. On this trip Fahd served under his brother, King Faisal who was at the time Saudi Arabia's foreign minister.

In 1953, at the age of thirty, Fahd was appointed Education Minister by his father. Also in 1953, Fahd led his first official state visit, attending the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of the House of Saud.

Later Fahd would lead the Saudi delegation to the League of Arab States in 1959, signifying his growing relevance and importance in the House of Sahd — and his being groomed for more significant power.

Finally, in 1962, Fahd was given a post of prodigious responsibility: that of Interior Minister. Five years later Fahd would be appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister, a significant post in the House of Saud.

On March 25, 1975, King Faisal dies and King Khalid assumes power as regent. Fahd, next in the line of succession, becomes Crown Prince.

In 1982 King Khalid passes away and Fahd assumes the throne.